In Samaroo v. Samaroo, 193 F.3d 185 (3d Cir. 1999), Louise Robichaud-Samaroo (Ms. Robichaud) sought to obtain the pension benefits of her former and deceased husband, Winston Samaroo, relying on a property settlement agreement that had been incorporated into the parties divorce decree. Id. at 186-87. The agreement specifically provided: (d) Pensions, Profit Sharing and Bell System Savings Plan. Savings Plan--(1) Husband has a vested pension having a present value, if husband were to retire at this time, of $1,358.59 per month. At the time of husband's retirement and receipt of his pension he agrees to pay to wife one half of said monthly amount. Id. at 187 (quoting the joint property agreement of the Samaroos). Neither the decree nor the property settlement agreement, however, mentioned any right of Ms. Robichaud to Mr. Samaroo's survivor's annuity. Id. Thereafter, Mr. Samaroo died while still actively employed by AT&T. Id. Admittedly and at the time of his death, Mr. Samaroo did maintain a management pension plan with AT&T. Id. Nonetheless, because Mr. Samaroo did not live to an age where he would qualify to receive pension payments, there were no pension payments that ever became payable to him. Id. As a consequence, "the benefit expressly mentioned in the divorce settlement agreement never came to fruition." Id. The plan, however, did provide a qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity ("QPSA"), which would have been available to the surviving spouse of any plan participant who passed after vesting but before retiring. Id. As a result, Ms. Robichaud sought to obtain the QPSA benefits from the plan. Id. The plan, however, denied her claim for the QPSA because the divorce decree made no mention of any entitlement to such right, and "in the absence of a surviving spouse or a QDRO designating a former spouse as such, there was simply no QPSA payable in respect of Samaroo." Id. Thereafter, Ms. Robichaud brought a civil action against the plan in New Jersey Superior Court, Chancery Division, to amend the final judgment of divorce nunc pro tunc to convey her a right to fifty percent of the QPSA. Id. at 188. The plan removed the action to federal court and filed a counter-claim, seeking declaratory relief. Id. The federal District Court remanded the portion of the removed case that involved the terms of the divorce, but retained jurisdiction of Ms. Robichaud's claim against the Plan for the retirement benefits. Id. at 188. Notwithstanding Ms. Robichaud's testimony that "neither Winston . . . nor she thought about the survivor rights to the pension," the New Jersey state court held that the Plan did not have standing to object to alteration of the divorce decree. Id. It noted that "Winston Samaroo's estate did not oppose Robichaud's request to amend the decree nunc pro tunc, since conveying the survivorship rights once Samaroo was dead did not cost the estate anything, but undid the effect of Samaroo dying without a survivor." Id. Following the state court's ruling, Ms. Robichaud and the Plan filed cross-motions for summary judgment in the federal District Court, requesting an examination of the statutory requirements for a QDRO under 29 U.S.C. 1056(d)(3)(C) and (D). Id. 189. The District Court found that the amended divorce order satisfied the specificity requirements of section 1056(d)(3)(C), but not the substantive requirements of section 1056(d)(3)(D). Id. On appeal, the Third Circuit concluded that the nunc pro tunc domestic relations order did not qualify as a QDRO if it required the plan to provide any type of benefits not otherwise provided by the plan or to provide increased benefits.